April has traditionally being the time for ‘hanami’ or cherry blossom festivals here when millions of Japanese hold parties under the pink flowering trees in parks and streets lit up gaily by lanterns. A girl writes a message to Tohoku victims on a message board at the Okinawa International Film Festival. – Suvendrini Kakuchi/IPS But, one month after the earthquake and tsunami of Mar. 11 which left almost 30,000 people dead or missing, a widespread donation drive has supplanted the festive hanami spirit in Tokyo and other major cities. ‘The terrible Tohoku disaster has galvanised the nation to launch a nation- wide charity movement,’ Kyoichi Kobayashi, a social critic and author here, told IPS. ‘The drive is an entirely new experience for the people who have gotten used to an affluent lifestyle that marks Japan’s post-war economic might.’ Indeed, from Hokkaido, Japan’s north island, to Okinawa, the southern tip in the archipelago, hundreds of local volunteer groups, companies and organisations have launched frantic aid projects or are working as volunteers to help the stricken populations in the disaster zones. For example, the international movie festival held annually in Okinawa by Yoshimoto Kogyou, a leading entertainment company, turned from its original purpose of boosting the Okinawan economy into a charity for Tohoku instead.

Governor Shintaro Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo, the nation’s capital and lynchpin of the local economy, has asked people to voluntarily refrain from hanami parties to show their solidarity with the pain of Tohoku. ‘This is not an era in which people at this time of year may drink viewing cherry blossoms, even during day time.’ Such unusual steps, according to Kobayashi, are a clear example of how Japan, after decades of being a country that gives charity given its rich economy, is now trying to cope with being a country that needs help. The massive destruction including the ongoing nuclear radiation emergency, explained Kobayashi, has exposed and turned into a bitter lesson, the lack of preparation in the country despite its vulnerability to earthquakes.

‘The chaos we witness in Tohoku – thousands of people still stuck in evacuation centres and the lack of food and water – is sobering,’ Kobayashi said. Japan has gone ‘in a few seconds’ from a country that was – till recently – the world’s top aid donor, ‘to becoming a recipient itself.’ Indeed, the emerging new mood in Japan is a scenario best described by the country’s leader himself. Prime Minister Naoto Kan, published a message in newspapers worldwide Monday. He wrote of ‘Kizuna’, or bonds of friendship, shown by more than 130 countries and regions after the disaster and pledged that Japan will ‘recover from their own efforts and with the help of the global community.’ Japan will ‘come back even stronger… to repay you,’ Kan said.

International relations expert, Takeshi Inoguchi explains that outpourings of financial donations from countries like Rwanda and Sri Lanka – who are struggling to overcome domestic hurdles of their own – have been welcomed in Japan. ‘The Japanese view such generosity as important signs of encouragement during their bereavement and are very grateful,’ Inoguchi said. Bilateral donations covering 117 countries were offered through the Japanese Red Cross and totalled more than 33 million dollars (Yen 2.8 billion) according to figures released here. Inoguchi also pointed out that, apart from warm international expressions of support and armies of volunteers entering Tohoku, there are other encouraging developments arising form the dire situation. A case in point is China’s support and help. Prior to the quake, Sino-Japanese relations were tense due to territorial issues, but leaders in Beijing have been at the forefront of the aid effort in Japan.

The Asahi Newspaper noted Tuesday that China reacted ‘calmly’ to the discharge of radioactive material from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea so close to its borders. China’s reaction comes in sharp contrast to the vociferous name calling that went on in September 2010 after a Chinese skipper was arrested, and later released, by Japan after he rammed into a Japanese navy patrol vessel close to the Senkaku Islands, which are claimed by both countries.

Help is also coming from Russia with which bilateral relations have been tense since November when Russian leader, Dimitry Medvedev, visited the Northern Territories, which are occupied by Russia but claimed by Japan. Russia has sent 161 workers and also announced an energy support measure at a time when Japan is facing black outs. Meanwhile, Mokoto Torri, a Tokyo resident who decided to abandon hanami celebrations this year, told IPS ‘the disaster is terrible’. But, pointing dejectedly at the long line of trees, in full pink bloom, lining the streets, he said, ‘I wonder whether I am doing the right thing after all.’

Current atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide and methane are higher now than at any time in the past 650,000 years, while sea levels may be rising twice as fast as in previous centuries. New laws committing governments to reducing CO2 every year by a fixed amount are essential.

COMMIT TO PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS

Governments fear discussing the impact of climate change for fear of upsetting the economy. But campaigns of the kind used in the UK to tackle health issues like smoking are needed to shock the public out of a naivety that ranks climate change as less important than terrorism, Third World debt and Aids.

TACKLE THE GAS GUZZLERS

Raise vehicle excise duty on fuel-heavy cars; make it more than £1,000 in the UK with further planned rises. Insist on a health warning on the side, similar to packets of cigarettes: “This Vehicle Damages The Environment, Your Health And Your Future.”

Biofuels, which are made from crops do not add to the emissions of CO2. They are “carbon neutral” because the CO2 they produce when burnt was absorbed from the atmosphere by the crops used to make them. Governments of industrialised nations should draw up biofuel obligations requiring oil companies to blend a fixed proportion of biofuels with all the fuel that they sell in garages.

SLASH THE GROWTH OF CHEAP FLIGHTS

Raise air passenger duty to end flights cheap on the pocket and pricey to the stratosphere (CO2 emissions from aircraft are rising faster than any other source). End the oopholes which allow most airlines to escape paying fuel duty.

SIGN UP DEVELOPING NATIONS TO ENVIRONMENTAL TARGETS

Rapidly expanding industrial economies such as China and India must be bound to meeting environmental targets, in the same way that the Kyoto protocol legally binds 141 countries to cutting pollutant greenhouse gases.

CONVINCE THE US TO TAKE CLIMATE CHANGE SERIOUSLY

The world leaders concerned about global warming need to bend the ear of America’s leader – who in turn needs to

placate the oil lobby. Without the United States, the fight against climate change lacks conviction or global reach.

DECENTRALISE ENERGY SUPPLY SYSTEMS

Legislate that new buildings in industrial nations should be CO2-free, with a power station in the basement. Features should include solar panel roofs, and mini-wind turbines to soap up wasted heat.Governments should have targets, audited by an independent body with sanctioning powers.

BOOST NEGLECTED RENEWABLE ENERGIES; SOLAR, WAVE AND TIDAL POWER

Properly fund and support renewable energies other than wind. These have vast potential to supply CO2-free electricity but are underdeveloped. Oblige electricity supply companies to provide an increasing amount of their power from renewable sources.

OFF-SHORE WIND

Renew the impetus behind off-shore wind farms through government development subsidies. Few coastal nations are making any progress. The UK made a good start but stalled after technical and financial difficulties.

Incurable hereditary disease of the brain that stops you sleeping completely. Then you die. The gene responsible is found in just 28 families worldwide.

It’s caused by a protein mutation that causes plaque to develop on the thalamus – the region of the brain responsible for sleep. The disease begins at around the age of 50. The first symptom is insomnia, resulting in panic attacks and phobias. Soon hallucinations begin. Then there’s a complete inability to sleep, followed by rapid weight loss.

Unsurprisingly, after months huddled in front of the TV in the witching hour flicking between Christian City TV, half hour ads for “Time Life’s Best Ballads of all time 8 CD collection” and re-runs of Hotdogs’ Up Late, the sufferer becomes demented and mute. Then they die. There’s no cure.

9. Tapeworm

Ten metre parasitic worms that live in the digestive tract. They use their head to attach to the intestine and have a segmented body containing male and female sexual organs, which are shed. These segments – resembling a grain of rice – can, scarily, move on their own, and can pop out whenever they want.

Tapeworms are caught from eating poorly cooked meat. They are treated with a single pill. However the worms, which can live inside you for up to 10 years, go through a half hour of death throes – squirming, twisting and having spasms inside you in the process. When killed, the parasite must be removed from the body – in a literal hand-over-hand process. All the time you can feel it slithering gently through your digestive tract. Nice.

But that’s not bad at all, at least relatively. Some species of tapeworm can migrate into surrounding tissues and eventually different organ systems. Larvae develop into large fluid filled cysts after travelling in the blood stream all over the body. When cysts are present in the central nervous system they can lead to seizure, dementia and irreversible brain damage. It’s said the “ye olde” treatment involved starving the patient, tying them down and hanging a piece of meat in front of their mouth and waiting to grab the emerging tapeworm. Unfortunately that could not be substantiated.

8. Chronic Hiccups

Chronic Hiccups can last for over a month – the longest case is 68 years for a total of 430 million hiccups. Long bouts can lead to depression, weight loss, insomnia, physical pain and exhaustion. Though even foetuses hiccup, they don’t seem to have any purpose.

Home remedies for curing them include breathing into a paper bag, standing on your head, and drinking from the far side of the glass. Clinical trials show that sex can stop hiccups and as a regular sufferer, I assure you the opposite is also the case.

7. Human Maggot Infestation

The sufferer is literally eaten alive by maggots. Caused when the larvae of the fleshfly or blowfly begin to feed on the person’s tissue, quickly spreading through the body. The larvae are originally laid in an open wound, a weeping sore or in the mouth, nose or ears. Sometimes maggots are introduced on purpose to sores that aren’t healing to eat the dead tissue. Once the larvae have finished feeding they mature and metamorphoses into either adult blowflies, Hillsong pastors, used car salesmen or motivational speakers.

6. Cateplexy

When a cateplexy sufferer laughs, they drop to the floor paralysed for five minutes. Cateplexy is often suffered by narcoleptics – those who fall asleep uncontrollably. Many also hallucinate. It is believed when they laugh, get angry or are surprised, they instantly go into REM sleep – a process that usually takes hours.

5. Water Poisoning

If you drink too much water you can die. OK, so it’s not really a disease but it’s still pretty cool. Basically if you drink heaps you dilute the electrolytes in your blood and your cells expand and eventually explode. Most deaths have been from water drinking contests or Marathon runners who keep drinking water without replenishing electrolyte supplies. A famous recent case last year involved a 28-year-old Californian mother of three who was found dead in her home after trying to win a Nintendo Wii game console in a radio competition called “Hold Your Wee for a Wii”.

4. Anthrax

Anthrax starts with a scary name and just gets worse. It’s a spore carrying bacterium you get from exposure to infected animal tissue. It is scary because anthrax spores lie dormant for decades in soil, infect an animal, feed on it until it’s gone, then lie dormant again.

There are three types – skin, inhaled and intestinal. Ninety-five percent of natural cases are skin – you get a painless black ulcer and probably won’t die. Intestinal anthrax has you vomiting blood, and there’s a good chance you’ll die. Inhalation Anthrax is usually fatal – you get it if you’re slicing buttons from animal horn or stretching skin to make drums, and you inhale the spores.

Of course, Anthrax is most famed as a biological weapon. It was used in 1978 by the Rhodesian government during its war with black nationalists. The UK tested it on a Scottish island, rendering it uninhabitable for 50 years and the US once had a spill that forced them to seal an entire building with glue and plastic. The UK and US armies routinely vaccinate their armies against it in certain war zones like Iraq. They knew Saddam had it because Republican Presidents Regean and Bush Snr still had the receipts in an old shoebox. After anthrax spores were mailed to American Senators and news outlets in 2001 many government organizations worldwide have been forced to use protective equipment when sorting mail. Thankfully ‘weaponised’ anthrax is very hard to make.

3. Alien Hand Syndrome

Sometimes called anarchic hand or Dr. Strangelove syndrome it’s when a person’s hand performs complex tasks without the person realising. It’s usually caused by the two sides of the brain being separated surgically or because of brain damage. Sometimes a sufferer mightn’t even be aware of what the alien hand is doing. Most simply believe their rogue limb is possessed by some spirit that they must fight or punish in order to regain control. Examples abound of sufferers putting cigarettes in their mouth with their good hand and reaching for a lighter while their other hand whips it out and throws it across the room. No, that’s just plain weird.

2. The Ebola Virus

Some strains of Ebola have the highest kill rates of any human virus. A strain of Ebola which broke out in Zaire had a fatality rate of 90%. Amazingly the high rate of fatality, and the speed with which it kills are two reasons the virus is not considered that dangerous, or in other words that a widespread epidemic is considered low – i.e. too many infected people, and die so quickly they don’t infect others. When you get it you get nausea, vomiting, and bloody diarrhoea – ho, hum I hear you say – yeah that’s before internal and external bleeding starts. Basically you start to liquefy from the inside out and your insides start coming out of every orifice. Thankfully it is not airborne and can only be passed by contact with bodily fluids.

1. Tree Man

OK, only one guy’s got it, but still it’s pretty horrid. Basically, he has the wart virus, but because he has a rare genetic fault that impedes his immune system his body it unable to contain the warts. The virus is then able to “hijack the cellular machinery of his skin cells”, and make them produce the tree-like growths on his hands and feet. Doctors hope to be able to give him some use of his hands by giving him massive doses of Vitamin A and by using surgery to cut off the worst of the growths.

Top 10 Common Methods of Suicide

The unfortunate and depressing issue of suicide has become a staggering piece of harsh reality in today’s world. In the US, ranking 46th in the world of rates per capita, we experience 11,000 self-inflicted deaths per year, and the UK: 7,000. This has become a serious issue for many countries whether the factors be family issues, health issues, money problems, or relationship failures. The ways in which people decide to shuffle this mortal coil are numerous and varying. Ten of the most often seen are as follows.

10. Drowning

How it’s Done: Maybe a relationship tremor has caused you to rethink your life here on the planet, and the weight of it all has made you decide to drown yourself. Sometimes, driving or even convincing yourself to walk into a large body or water will do it, otherwise many perish in as little water as a slightly-filled bathtub.

How it’s Done: Sometimes the thought of continuing to live in a world inundated with problems and insurmountable issues results on one wanting to die by electric shock. Something as simple as jamming a utensil in a wall outlet, to the more notable dunking an appliance in an occupied bathtub, can result in death by electric shock.

How it’s Done: Frequently the most obvious way to rapidly harm one’s self yet pass on relatively slowly, is to slit the wrists or the carotid, radial, ulnar, or femoral artery. Using a sharp implement is the easiest way to go. Razors or knives are popular. Contrary to popular belief, the effective method for this is not to cross the wrist, but to draw the blade up the forearm (as is evident in the photograph above). This is the same way Japanese perform Jigai (women) and Seppuku (men), although their’s is often for more spiritual purposes.

Results From Failure: Extreme loss of blood causing the heart to dramatically slow eventually depriving the brain of oxygen. Also, most often, deep scars and tissue damage.

7. Jumping

How it’s Done: Pondering the emptiness in one’s life can be a painful experience. Yet, when it all seems so overwhelming, you might decide to plummet from a significant height to your own death. Leaping from a building to the pavement below is quite lethal, and popular. However, romantics may choose to use a cliff over jagged rocks. Or bridges.

Results From Failure: Shattered femurs from impacting with water up to severe bodily harm from impacting with any solid surface.

6. Suffocation

How it’s Done: You’ve decided that your life is in disarray and you can no longer stand the pressure. One way to end it all is to encase your head in a plastic bag and asphyxiate yourself. Or, if you’re really ready to go, nitrogen or helium directly inhaled is useful.

Results From Failure: Turning back at the last minute before passing out can result in serious and long-lasting to permanent brain damage.

5. Carbon Monoxide Inhalation

How it’s Done: It’s all so difficult and the full weight of the world is seemingly square upon your shoulders. You’ve decided to go to the great beyond and you are going to lock yourself in a car, in a closed garage with the engine running and go to sleep. Or, if you have any appliance that puts of CO, that’ll do.

Results From Failure: CO molecules irreversibly attach themselves to human hemoglobin and the result is often fatal even if one backs out.

4. Poisoning

How it’s Done: Romeo and Juliet had it down when, once seeing the other presumably dead, the other fatally poisons himself. Taking a substance internally not meant to be done so can be considered poisoning: cleaners, industrial fluids, diazepam, cyanide, and the like.

Results From Failure: The toxic levels of poison required to kill one’s self are generally non-reversible. However, hospital staff can attempt it and often make one vomit or something similar. Lasting effects can include internal organ damage

3. Hanging

How it’s Done: It’s all over. Nothing in life seems to make it worth living any more. You can acquire a length of rope and construct yourself a noose, which is, by the way, considered a deadly weapon if tied correctly. Once built, wrap one end securely around something high: a rafter or a ceiling fan, and leap, head fastened within the loop, from a chair. Or, if you’re short of rope, anything strong enough to support your weight from your neck can be employed.

Results From Failure: Brain damage from lack of oxygen, Often, failure to actually break your own neck may only yield strangulation and you can be saved, but damaged. Also, permanent rope burns or implement scarring can occur.

2. Drug / Alcohol Overdose

How it’s Done: The pressure and stress of daily routines has beaten you down for the final time. Within your medicine cabinet lies the answer to your extermination: prescription and over-the-counter meds. A huge mouthful can do you right in. Or, to speed along the process, couple your target pills with a few swigs of alcohol. Many of our favorite musicians have chosen this route. Even alcohol alone, in extreme excess can kill you.

Results From Failure: Severe to permanent organ failure if successful removal isn’t achieved, as well as impaired judgment. Often, clinical assistance is necessary if attempt is repeated.

1. Gun Shot

How it’s Done: One of the most often achieved forms of suicide is by gun shot. Generally a head shot is desired since its results are 99 percent effective, however a chest shot can be equally as devastating.

Results From Failure: Sometimes the blast isn’t enough to kill. In this case, severe to permanent bodily damage can occur as well as blood loss, organ and tissue damage, and brain damage.

Support

Suicide is never a solution. There is no problem so great that it can not be resolved with time and care. This list is meant not as an instruction guide, but a description of the most common forms of suicide. The following is a list of sites you can visit to get help if you are feeling beyond help. Please remember, no matter how bad things get, someone, somewhere is able to listen to you and help you through.

Skinheads are members of a subculture that grew out of Great Britain and then spread throughout the world. The skinhead subculture has been active since the mid to late 1960s, but the term skinhead remains a loaded word evoking many different connotations. Like many subcultures, skinheads have evolved and changed with the times. Splinter groups have formed for certain beliefs, the movement naturally evolves as society changes, and backlash reactions to generalizations made against the subculture by the dominant culture have also changed the movement. Today the label skinhead is subject to much misunderstanding and confusion, increased only by the radically different meanings associated with the term in different cultures and classes.

Steps

Before you can “be” a skinhead you have to know what it means. For many music, culture and fashion movements what individuals’ stand for is clear for the whole group. For skinheads, this is not true. To know what kind of skinhead you want to be consider:

The history of the skinhead movement.

The kind of skinhead groups local to you.

What draws you to being a skinhead? Is it the music, the clothing, political beliefs, social class or something else?

Know how to dress, and how not to dress

Know the history

In the early 1960s, before the hippie movement, there were primarily two youth groups based on music in the United Kingdom. One group was called the mods, the other the rockers. Mods mostly listened to R&B, soul, ska and British rock bands such as The Who and Small Faces. Rockers mostly listened to 1950s American rock & roll. Being a mod meant dressing very well, riding a scooter and dancing late into the night. Rockers rode motorcycles and wore leather jackets, similar to greasers, their American counterparts To learn more about mods and rockers watch the movie Quadrophenia (1973).

When the psychedelic 1960s hit England, the mods split into a wide variety of fashions and styles including hippies and the skinheads. This period is where the fashion of skinheads was first defined. Skinhead fashion is intended to show pride in a traditional English working-class look.

As time went by and the skinhead movement spread around the world, the original beliefs and values evolved and split into a variety of different subcultures. Today, skinhead can mean almost anything, depending on your own beliefs, country, culture, class and where you get your information. The fascist skinheads, originally a very small minority, got a lot of press attention and in many ways were the first “ambassadors” of the skinhead look to the rest of the world. Fascist skinheads are about as common as regular fascists, and they are the exact opposite of the original skinhead philosophies and music.

Know your local skinheads

Find clubs or other places where ska, reggae, soul, Oi!, or old-school hardcore and punk is played in your area. These are the types of music skinheads are most interested in.

Find your local skinheads. They shouldn’t be hard to pick out of the crowd.

Eventually, if the scene’s a good fit for you, you’ll wind up shaving your head or having it shaved for you.

Never act like you know everything.

If you find that the skinhead scene where you live does not reflect your beliefs, then consider an alternate subculture that better reflects your own values.

Understand the kinds of skinheads

Today, skinheads can be broken down in many ways, but the following categories may be a good place to start. Skinheads are divided into categories based on style and categories based on political beliefs.

Style categories

Traditional skinheads identify with the original skinhead movement (Spirit of 69) in terms of music, style, culture and working class pride. Unlike the other categories, traditionalist skinheads often do not regard attitudes toward racism as central to the subculture.

Oi! skins and punk-skinheads – Originating after the development of punk rock, they prefer Oi! and punk music. They often have shorter hair and more tattoos — and wear items such as high boots, tight jeans, T-Shirts and flight jackets. Although the original Oi! bands advocated a pro-worker populist stance, the Oi! fanbase includes a wide range of political beliefs.

Hardcore skins – A United States-based version of skinheads, part of the hardcore punk music scene associated with bands such as Iron Cross, Agnostic Front, Cro-mags, Sheer Terror, Warzone and Murphy’s Law. Hardcore skins tend to dress a little bit more casual, often donning Adidas samba’s instead of boots. Somewhat baggier jeans and non traditional “Windbreaker” type jackets and hooded sweatshirts are also commonplace. Certain aspects of the traditional skinhead style, like Muttonchops, Ben Shermans, Scally Caps and of course, cropped hair are still present however, to identify with the subculture.

Gay Skinhead – A gay person who identifies with the skinhead subculture. Gay skinheads can also fit into other style or political categories.

Political categories

Anti-racist (SHARP): Aggressively opposed to neo-Nazism and racism, although not always political in terms of other issues. The label SHARP is sometimes used to describe all anti-racist skinheads, even if they aren’t members of a SHARP organization.

Apolitical, Centrist or Anti-political skinheads, or skinheads who keep their political views out of the skinhead subculture. They often have a sense of working class pride, but not so much in a political sense. Most traditional skinheads, or “trojans” fit this category.

Left-wing skinheads are anti-racist and anti-fascist, taking a militant pro-working class stance. The most well-known organization in this category is Red and Anarchist Skinheads (RASH).

Right-wing: Conservative and patriotic, but not necessarily extreme or fascist. This type of skinhead seems to be common in the United States.

White Power or Nazi skinhead: Racist, extremely nationalist and highly political. Despite the common moniker, many Nazi skinheads have no connection to the original skinhead culture in terms of style or interests. SHARPs and traditional skinheads often refer to them as boneheads. Racist skinheads are found largely in prisons, as part of a gang. However, many of these members are not truly racist, but form a white gang because of the existence of black and Hispanic prison gangs.

Know how to dress skinhead

Hair:

Originally, between a 2 and 3 grade clip-guard (short, but not bald); beginning in the late 1970s, typically shaved closer, with no greater than a number 2 guard. Now some skinheads clip their hair with no guard, and some even shave it with a razor. This started with the introduction of the Oi! scene.

Men: Levi’s, Lee or Wrangler jeans (usually blue), straight leg with rolled cuffs (turn-ups) to show off boots, often with hem cut off and sewn to give neater, flatter turn-up; Sta-Prest flat-fronted slacks and other trousers; bleachers (jeans splattered with bleach to resemble camouflage trousers), popular among punk-influenced Oi! skins; combat trousers (plain or camouflage), popular among Oi! skins and scooter boys.

Women: Same jeans and trousers as men, or skirts and stockings. Some skingirls wear fishnet stockings and mini-skirts, a style introduced during the skinhead revival.

Footwear:

Men: boots, originally army surplus or generic workboots which is what Dr. Martins were, originally, surplus British Army boots. Then commercialized Dr. Martens (AKA Docs, DMs or Doc Martens) boots and shoes. Other brands of boots have become popular, partly because Dr. Martens and Grinders footwear are no longer made in England.

Women: Dr. Martens boots or shoes, monkey boots, loafers or brogues.

Hats:

Trilby hats; pork pie hats; flat caps (AKA Scally cap, Benny or driver cap). Less common have been bowler hats (AKA derby hats), mostly among suedeheads and those influenced by the film A Clockwork Orange (1971).

Braces:

Various colours, usually no more than ½ inch in width. In some areas, wider braces may identify a skinhead as either white power or a wanna-be.

Warning

You can’t become a skinhead by reading an Internet instruction guide.

If you run in to real skinheads, you will probably get made fun of and maybe beat up.

The Next Magazine, a weekly publication from Hong Kong, reported that infant corpses and fetuses have become the newest supplements for health and beauty in China. Not only is the placenta considered a beauty remedy, but also aborted fetuses are much sought after delicacies. In Guangdong, gourmet body parts are in high demand and can even be purchased through hospitals. The magazine’s investigations into this form of cannibalism took them to Liaoning province.

According to The Next Magazine, during a banquet hosted by a Taiwanese businessman, a servant Ms Liu from Liaoning province on the mainland inadvertently revealed the habit of eating infants/fetuses in Liaoning province and her intention to return for the supplement due to health concerns. The Taiwanese women present were horrified.

Ms Liu also disclosed that even though people can afford the human parts there are still waiting lists and those with the right connections get the “highest quality” human parts, which translates to the more mature fetuses. A male fetus is considered the “prime” human part.

At the The Next Magazine’s request, Ms Liu personally escorted the reporter to a location where a fetus was being prepared. The reporter observed a woman chopping up a male fetus and making soup from the placenta. During the process, the woman even tried to comfort everyone by saying, “Don’t be afraid, this is just the flesh of a higher animal.”

The boy’s remains were cremated in the mountains in accordance with the customs of the region.

In fact, in China, reports about meals made from infant flesh have surfaced from time to time. A video is on the Internet for people to view. In the introduction, the Chinese claim that eating a human fetus is an art form.

On March 22, 2003, police in Bingyan, Guangxi Province seized 28 female babies smuggled in a truck from Yulin, Guangxi Province going to Houzhou in Anhui Province. The oldest baby was only three months old. The babies were packed three or four to a bag and many of them were near death and none were claimed by their parents.

On the morning of October 9, 2004, a person rifling through the garbage on the outskirts of Jiuquan city in the Suzhou region, found dismembered babies in a dumpster. There were two heads, two torsos, four arms, and six legs. According to the investigation, these corpses were no more than a week old and they had been dismembered after cooking.

Although China has laws that prohibit the eating of human fetus, the regime’s forced abortions to ensure the one child policy is strictly adhered to thereby creating many opportunities for these sorts of atrocities to occur.

What would make people do such a thing without any fear of condemnation?

FROM CONDOM HAIRBANDS TO CONDOM DRESSES

Condom Hair Bands

Imagine you walk into a salon to get your hair shampooed, cut and styled. You are given rubber hair bands to help keep your hair up and out of your face. Then you find out that these are not your typical hair bands. These hair bands are recycled…recycled used condoms. This is what happened to one disgusted Chen Wenlan from Dongguan, China after visiting her local hair salon. Wenlan says, “Many of my friends have not yet heard the news. And it is really terrible.”

Whoever had the idea of recycling used condoms may have had good intentions to help save the planet, but their methods were not exactly well thought out. The recycled used condoms have popped up all over China’s Pearl River Delta, including hair salons and local popular marketplaces. Unfortunately, these rubber hair bands are so inexpensive and so alluringly colorful that they have been selling very well. This poses a major health risk to both locals and shopping tourists.

Doctors from Pearl River Delta have issued warnings that these recycled condom hair bands could infect its users with sexually transmitted diseases like genital herpes and warts and HIV, especially when women place the rubber hair bands in their mouths while fixing their hair. Says one local dermatologist, “There are a lot of bacteria and viruses on the rubber bands and hair ties made from used condoms. People could be infected with AIDS, warts or other diseases.” One package of ten of these rubber hair bands goes for approximately 25 fen (or three US cents) at the marketplace, a steal for hair bands.

Condom Fashion

When I was browsing Google for some funny images, I came across some of these women who were wearing traditional Chinese high-necked dresses and holding colorful fans. Others were seen prancing down the runway in gorgeous billowy swimsuits. Then it hit me. Why were these fashions coming up on a condom image search? I looked closer at the different fashions I had just been admiring and realized they were all made from condoms! Even those colorful fans were fashioned from colorful condoms!

This condom-based attire was made for a fashion show which took place at China’s fourth annual Reproductive Health New Technologies & Products Expo in 2007. Each outfit was painstakingly made with various types of condoms of multiple colors. Even the lollipop props being held by the models were made from condoms. The show was sponsored by the leading Chinese manufacturer of condoms, Guilin Latex Factory. This fashion show was produced to endorse condom use and to push for an end to the HIV/AIDS epidemic that has swept the globe.